Port Elizabeth, South Africa: Last week Australia's bowlers showcased their attacking qualities to roll South Africa twice within 123 overs. On the opening day of the second Test it was their defensive qualities that allowed Australia to cope with three stand-out batting performances by the Proteas to nevertheless have the better of day one in Port Elizabeth.

The Proteas went to stumps 5-214 after choosing to bat first at St George's Park. Just before bad light prematurely ended the day's play A.B. de Villiers became the first batsman in Test history to reach 50 in 12 consecutive Tests. It is a stint that stretches back to South Africa's tour of Australia 15 months ago, and was achieved despite him having also taken on wicketkeeping duties for the entire period.

Important knock ... Dean Elgar of South Africa leaves the field after getting out to Nathan Lyon of Australia for 83. Photo: Getty Images

De Villiers will resume day two on 51, with J.P. Duminy alongside him on two.

Advertisement

While fast-bowling, along with disciplined batting, fuelled Australia's win in Centurion in Port Elizabeth the collective reward of Mitch Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle was the wickets of Graeme Smith (9) and Hashim Amla (0) with the new ball. The other three wickets to fall for the day were to spin, two of them in the last hour of the day to thwart South Africa's bid to conclusively take day-one honours.

One of those two to depart to overly aggressive shots late in the day was Dean Elgar, to end an impressive innings of 83 that proved there was more to him than the batsman who fell to Mitch Johnson for a pair on his debut in late 2012.

Left-hander Elgar was promoted to opener in place of the ill Alviro Petersen. The pressure on him to perform increased markedly when senior top-order batsmen Smith and Amla each fell leg-before within the first six overs of the match.

He and the equally solid Faf du Plessis (55) shared a partnership of 112 for South Africa's third wicket, only the second century partnership Australia had conceded since the start of the home Ashes series. In the same period it managed 11 century partnerships with the bat.

In the first session there was much less of the short-pitched bowling seen at Centurion Park, ostensibly because even Johnson struggled to get the ball to reach chest height of the South African batsmen. As they instead pitched up, du Plessis profited, regularly and confidently whipping the ball off his toes square.

South Africa was entitled to go to the drinks break in the middle session happy with its lot, given the century partnership between Elgar and du Plessis and a half-century for each that had been brought up in the preceding three. The positive momentum was halted with the first ball after drinks when du Plessis steered Lyon straight into the hands of Steve Smith at short-leg. By the end of the session, however, it had been regained thanks to the continued resilience of Elgar and the skill of de Villiers.

Elgar was one of three inclusions for the Proteas, the most notable being dashing 21-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock for his debut, as a specialist batsman. Left-arm fast-bowler Wayne Parnell was also selected for his first Test in four years. Alviro Petersen (virus) and Ryan McLaren (concussion) were unavailable, while spinner Robin Peterson was dropped.

Australia, as expected, chose an unchanged team.

South Africa waited until seconds before the toss to finalise its team, because it was mulling whether a "niggle" Vernon Philander had been struggling with throughout the morning was serious enough to rule him out.

Just before Smith exchanged teamsheets with Australia captain Michael Clarke before the toss he was seen making a change to the line-up. The trigger for that was an injury cloud over seamer Philander, which lingered long enough that Smith had to wait until he put on his ceremonial team blazer for the toss to learn of the 28-year-old's availability.

"Vernon woke up this morning and felt a little niggle, so we weren't quite sure what was going on there. I just got a message as I was putting my blazer on," Smith said when interviewed after the toss. "The drama is sorted out, I think - Vernon is ready to go."

South Africa's decision to bat after winning the toss allowed Philander longer to recover before having to bowl. That decision, despite the early wickets, looked to be a sound one when the century partnership between Elgar and du Plessis was followed by a half-century stand between Elgar and de Villiers.

The latter ended on 58 due to lapse in concentration that cost Elgar his shot at a second Test century. The 26-year-old tried to heave the hard-working Lyon down the ground but failed to get to the pitch of the ball and sliced it to deep cover.

Debutant de Kock's first innings was a forgettable one, slicing part-timer Steve Smith high to mid-off for seven. As soon as de Kock hit the ball - he too failed to get to the pitch of the ball - his immediate body language showed how crestfallen he was to have played such a reckless shot, with the ball ending in the hands of substitute fielder Moises Henriques.

While play ended early because of Clarke's wish to recall Ryan Harris to the attack - umpires said the light was only suitable for spin - fortunately that occurred just after de Villiers struck the boundary that took him to his milestone that dislodged Viv Richards, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag as joint holder of the record for reaching 50 in the most consecutive Tests.

22 comments

Must say, I don't mind the Saffers.

Not too unlike us, a bit arrogant and staunch. No whingeing.

Still, I hope we smash them to a pulp!

Commenter

Ged Flan

Date and time

February 20, 2014, 9:12PM

A fair and reasonable comment I guess.

Commenter

Tin

Date and time

February 21, 2014, 4:25AM

I tend to agree but they are not risk-takers. Already they seem to be playing 'not to lose' rather than to win. A tick over 200 on one day? Pretty bloody slow.

Commenter

Jak

Date and time

February 21, 2014, 6:12AM

No Whinging?? The whole Aussie team is a bunch of whingers! Ponting made it best practice a few years ago. That's what makes them so hard to like.

Commenter

Adam

Location

Sydney

Date and time

February 21, 2014, 6:20AM

yeah, saffas are okay...I still hope we grind them into the turf, otherwise I'll never hear the end of it from my proudly SAfrican wife! C'mon MoJo!

Commenter

Freeo

Date and time

February 21, 2014, 6:26AM

Yes. About the whingeing. Things seem to be changing under Boof and Pup but the Ponting years will always be remembered by me as the most painful, embarrassing years to watch due to the constant whingeing and complaining.

Commenter

Citizen N

Date and time

February 21, 2014, 8:07AM

Adam. You call the Aussie whiners bad mouth Ponting then you fail to back it up poor form

Commenter

Armchair selector

Date and time

February 21, 2014, 11:17AM

Let' see ? This pitch has been custom made for Dale Steyne to " seam" the ball -- I won't be surprised if he cuts through us like a hot butter knife??

Commenter

Dgletssee

Date and time

February 21, 2014, 4:30AM

Steyn will find it just as difficult as our bowlers. Stop sooking. This is a Test match. It will equally Test our bats and bowlers as theirs. 5-214 games in the balance. This might be Lyons Test. We also gave Smith as a further spin option. If we are as good as we like to think we will win. They have just taken the new ball. Lets see how many the last 5 make. By the way Harris can move the ball found it hard. Ill predict Steyn struggles on the pitch also.

Commenter

Armchair Selector

Date and time

February 21, 2014, 5:24AM

I wonder how steyn, lobster and niggle Vernon feel about getting to bowl on this without the support of a recognised spin bowler?New ball for Mitch and Ryan in the morning. If they replicate the start then saffers are 7 down for 230ish. Not really a great spot to be. Great test cricket evenly poised. If the pitch stays together a result might be hard to come by. Good time to be one nil up.